Community Open Houses Prove Fruitful as NYU Plans Its Physical Future
NYU is a community totaling more than 75,000 strong, and when you factor in the greater Village population that number multiplies considerably. Like any community, the actions of some affect the lives of all, and in that spirit NYU has made it a priority to include as many voices as possible as it crafts a vision for the future generations who will study, teach, administer, and live around this growing University.
After two open houses with both the NYU community and its neighbors—the most recent held on Sept. 17—the University’s new Office of Strategic Assessment, Planning, and Design (SAPD) is gaining much-needed input on its formal strategy, called “NYU Plans 2031,” which aims to provide a blueprint for campus growth and development over the next 25 years.
Following an intensive period of data collection and analysis, the University is now holding a series of open houses with the community in which the planning team shares information about NYU’s historic growth, new projections, and the goals of the planning process. An advisory planning council—with broad representation from the NYU community—is being led by Lynne Brown, senior vice president for university relations and public affairs, Lori Pavese Mazor, associate vice president for planning and design, and William Haas, director for campus planning. On the external front, Alicia Hurley, associate vice president for government and community affairs, has met regularly with community representatives, including elected officials, with the assistance of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.
“The open houses have been invaluable in receiving both internal and external comments,” says Mazor. “The feedback has been broad and has covered topics from needing more student housing around the core area (Washington Square) to limiting the amount of new development in the core area.”
NYU has projected the need for an additional 6 million square feet of space over the next 25 years, encompassing three million square feet of academic space and three million square feet of housing for both students and faculty. The planning process will inform where these needs will be located. The entirety of the space demand cannot all be located in the core area, and remote locations are also being investigated to accommodate space demands.
“The goals and projections for NYU Plans 2031 were developed by NYU and shared with the local community,” says Hurley. “Based on community response, additional principles were included and we continue to work together to understand the motivation and the practical application of these principles.”
The next open house will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 17, and will continue the intensive outreach to solicit input and ideas from the NYU community and its neighbors, which began in June. SAPD will then use the information gathered to devise a long-term, strategic plan that can ultimately be brought forth to the internal community, local community representatives and members, and city officials. The planning process is anticipated to establish a preferred strategy in spring 2008, and it is expected that this preferred strategy will continue to generate discussion and be refined over the following months.
“It’s too early to indicate what NYU 2031 will look like, but every expectation is that the University will have better academic facilities, adequate student housing, more usable and inviting open spaces, and an improved quality of architecture and urban design,” says Mazor. “As NYU becomes a leader in global education, we expect to re-envision the way we teach and learn at Washington Square, networking our students and faculty to their counterparts throughout the New York metropolitan area and around the world.”
